I know that look of disgust in your eyes. You can't hide it from me. I've seen all its expressions in many faces like your own. I am intimately familiar with rejection. Yes, these scars and stitched wounds are horrifying to behold. Were I truly alive, they'd be enough to kill me. But I am not alive. Not yet. Not in the way you know it. A fire burns within me and animates this dead... [click here for more]

I'm going to assume you've never been here before. It's all right, that's to be expected. Not many people have, you know? I mean... not many people like yourself. People with heartbeats. Everybody else, though - they all come here. A lot of them are still around. You know how some people day the best way to deal with an enemy is to outlive him? That's good advice most of the time. But right about... [click here for more]

Good Book says the world's caught in a long, dark night, waiting for a brand new dawn to come and sweep all that darkness away. Don't know if that'll ever happen, but I do know this: there's folks set on making things darker. They're looking for ways to break the laws the Good Lord set for all of nature's ways. I've seen it happen, and the night's getting darker and longer. Sometimes I think I... [click here for more]

From beyond, they come. They are spawned of That Which Is Not, and they hunger for That Which Is. There are a thousand-thousand blasphemies reflected into the gaze of the Abyss, and a thousand-thousand more beyond sight. One by one, slithering in secret, they crawl into the world. The day will come when the Awakened look up from their tomes and ruins and petty factionalism, and wonder where all... [click here for more]

"Since the times of the Exile and dispersion from that great polis have the Awakened formed together in unity and purpose. These cabals are the cornerstones of our society, the blocks from which shall be built a new city. Each sanctum is a part of this shining, dispersed city, each Hallow a jewel in its treasury. Let it be known that... [click here for more]

"Time is a cycle. Beginning. Middle. End. All part of the cycle. Genesis mandates conclusion; a start necessitates a closure. The tims is nigh for the conclusion. This is the end." -- Durandal, prophet of the Cult of the Doomsday Clock Mages aspire to greatness, and none more so than those who craft their souls with the techniques of the sublime—legacies that invoke awe... [click here for more]

Glimpses of a Higher World When a mage Awakens, she touches one of the five legendary Watchtowers. The Atlantean kings erected these mystical spires in ages past to call out to slumbering souls, beckoning them to claim their birthright: the power of magic. A Guide to Paths for Mage: The Awakening™ • Details on the histories, practices and societies of... [click here for more]

Some things are best left forgotten. But why should that hold us back? The ancients hoarded their magic and sealed it in secret redoubts, hidden from Sleepers and the debased spells of our age. The lords of these storehouses are long gone, but their enchantments remain, enigmas to confound us, their heirs in magic. In some of these places, the guardians charged with their protection still wait,... [click here for more]

"At the moment of our birth - if that's the word - we make a choice. Life of Death. Division or Unity. Madness or Sanity. Flux or Azoth. Do we really make that choice? Does something in a creator's makeup determine whether we sunder our flesh and slither away, or rise up to begin a new Pilgrimage? I don't know. But I do plan to find out, with your help. Yes, it might hurt a bit." -... [click here for more]

The Great Work Lead into gold. Worthless into priceless. False fire into a mortal soul. This is the quest of every Promethean, but many roads lead to Mortality. Over the centuries, the Refinements have changed, new ones have been discovered and old ones lost, and secrets too terrible for the mundane world have been buried and covered in lies. The Created cannot afford to let these... [click here for more]

Puppeteers and Puppets We are the masters of the world. We control the Machine, watch every human cog spinning within it. We have gained power over the material world and the supernatural. And all we had to do was trade our freedom for eternal servitude to those above us. A Character Book for Mage: The Awakening™
• The history and society of the Seers of the Throne,... [click here for more]

"Who are we? Don't ask for secrets if you cannot keep them. Do you wish to take this step? Good. We are the secret police of the Awakened, charged with our task by the kings of lost Atlantis. We watch and judge the Gifted for any sign of malpractice of their Art, for we knew of old that the Abyssal taint of miscast spells risks the very universe. To remain pure, magic must be kept secret -... [click here for more]

"The Exarchs are real. The Dethroned Queen, cast out of the Heavens by wiser gods than she, proves they’re real. You can doubt her existence, but doing so only proves your ignorance. The Dethroned Queen was real. Soon you’ll see. Soon you’ll get it. Then you’ll believe." — Jonah Reed, Seer of the Throne, prior to his execution This... [click here for more]

The HackJournal is a quarterly PDF magazine designed specifically for (and by) the members of the HackMaster Association – an organization of HackMaster players and GameMasters who meet online and in person to discuss and play the HackMaster 4th edition roleplaying game.
HackJournal #1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Armchair of the Arch-Mage A Day in the Life of a Dopplemeister The Fast... [click here for more]